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The fallout from the Battle of Eastlands continues

Tear-up amongst the Prawn Sandwich Brigade

Man City‘s chief agitator and top mentalist, chief executive Garry Cook, is once again in the centre of a media shit-storm after this morning’s revelations the club’s Wednesday night clash with Everton was even more tasty than first thought.

While Moyes and Mancini were scrapping out on the touchline at Eastlands, it’s being alleged the suits were having a barney of their own within the luxury confines of the directors’ box, in scenes that would have brought a single, proud tear to Roy Keane’s eye (the other still being used to search out dreadful, overpriced transfers).

Everton are demanding an apology from City, claiming one of their invited guests, millionaire property mogul George Downing, got into a stand-up row with Cook as tempers flared toward the end of the Toffees’ 2-0 victory.

According to eyewitnesses (and the Daily Mail), it all kicked off when Downing began to join in with a chant of “2-0, and we’ve spent f**k all”, allegedly aimed in Cook’s general direction; at which point – depending on whether you’re Everton or City – one of the two men became guilty of shouting a lot of naughty words in the other’s face, culminating in Downing being quickly ushered out of the room.

City have denied any wrongdoing on Cook’s part, but Downing is said to be threatening to take the matter over the chief executive’s head to his boss, moneybags oil baron Sheikh Mansour. The same Sheikh Mansour that was being reported to be seriously considering Cook’s position three months ago, after another embarrassing gaffe in a New York bar…

Meanwhile, the Mail are also reporting some inexplicable nonsense about Craig Bellamy, a man apparently ready to re-tarnish his image after a period of unlikely lucidity during the Terry/Bridge affair, claiming he’ll be hauled in front of City bigwigs today to explain comments made in the tunnel at Wednesday’s full-time whistle, in which he was supposedly loudly claiming allegiance to Team Moyes. No, us neither. The story’s here if you want to try and decipher it yourself.

SPOILER BONUS: Garry Cook’s best bits

On his relationship with former City owner/Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra (likes: corruption, dislikes: human rights):

“Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Whether he’s guilty of something over there, I can’t worry too much about.”